The
observant amongst you might have noticed
the ‘Quarter Cutting’ phrase
has been removed from the title of the
film Va-Quarter Cutting. Now, it will
be known only as the monosyllable ‘Va’.
The extent of the removal has gone to
such an extent that the current TV promos
carry a written message that the movie
will be henceforth be known only as ‘Va’
and that ‘Quarter Cutting’
will not appear in any part of its promotional
campaigns. The irony of course being that
the term ‘Quarter Cutting’
is a part of the message that is screened
above the promo; thus contradicting the
message itself. Well, jokes apart; one
wonders whether this removal of ‘Quarter
Cutting’ from the title of the movie
has

come a little too late in the day (perhaps even deliberately)
after the term has been firmly ingrained into the
minds of all film buffs so much that irrespective
of what the producers want to call the film now, it
is going to be known only as ‘Quarter Cutting’
to the public.

The issue however is not just with Quarter Cutting
alone; it is something more deep. The reason behind
the removal of the ‘Quarter Cutting’ phrase
from the title will be quite obvious to many. It started
somewhere in 2006 when Something Something suddenly
reduced itself to a mere tagline and made Unakkum
Enakkum the title of the movie. Yes, tax exemptions
that were provided by the Tamil Nadu government for
movies that were titled in Tamil. The move was ostensibly
(and we believe with very good intentions) to increase
the usage of Tamil which was getting increasingly
sidelined in favor of catchy English titles.

Well, four years after that move was first initiated,
one wonders whether the purpose has been served. Has
Tamil gained in prominence in Tamil cinema over this
period? Yes, if you look at the fact that it is difficult
to point out one English titled Tamil film since 2006.
But, does that really help matters? Does the title
really define a movie or the prominence that it gives
to the native language. Ever since the initiation
of this move we have had films that have been wholly
shot in France, USA etc. etc.. and carry chaste Tamil
names. We have films that feature songs which openly
ridicule classical Tamil literature but still have
Tamil titles. We have films that showcase Tamil culture
in very poor light but still carry titles in Tamil.
(it is like an old joke about an English professor
with the name Thamizharasan) All of them, irrespective
of what kind of content they carry walk away without
paying almost any taxes. Yes, there are films that
genuinely showcase Tamil in its richness and tradition;
and many films that take care to at least not ridicule
the language; but the sad fact here is that there
is almost no distinction made between the good, the
reasonable and the unacceptable. The only thing a
film maker has to do is to know one Tamil word (relevant
or otherwise to the film) and he can earn himself
full tax exemption; irrespective of what the film’s
content is. The feeling really is that Tamil is not
being served in any way; the actual purpose behind
this entire initiative is going unfulfilled.

Now, this is not a targeted campaign against Va-Quarter
Cutting. Any producer will be easily inclined to alter
the title of their movie if that would mean a few
lakhs more in the bank; nobody can be faulted of making
full use of a facility that exists; we all do that.
This is only to point out the meaningless nature of
the sops being offered now. Tamil is definitely not
being served; the government is losing a fair bit
every year on exempted entertainment taxes; the only
person really benefited is the producer. The average
audience might also get a measly Rs.3-4 off on a ticket.
But, all that really does not add up to the initiative’s
real objective – promoting Tamil usage.

If Tamil titles alone were enough to increase the
popularity of the language then dubbed English releases
are doing a far better job than Tamil films themselves
with the use of imaginative titles like ‘Sangili
Karuppan’, ‘Kaala Bhairavan’, ‘Kallarai
Manithan’, ‘Rudram’ etc. It will
be interesting to know whether these films were exempted
from taxes.

Promote Tamil by all means; exempt taxes for those
films which really enrich the language, showcase the
culture; not for ones that show heroes wearing ‘kudumi
wigs’ and dancing on the streets of France and
ones that remix ‘Aathichoodi’ with rap
music. Exempt tax; for content, not for titles. As
the saying goes: ‘Never judge a book by its
cover’.